I chanced upon this document while looking for something else.
   But it's well-presented and does a decent job of coming up with
   a working explanation of engineering as a discipline.

learnt that at uni when I was doing my degree in aerospace en-gin-earing

basically, as my professor explained, the english were very prone to the odd glass of gin, while wearing earings and high heels, to the crossdressing parties around Oxford back in the day, hence the bastardisation of the word engineering.

most of us undergrads thought he was crazy. though we did catch him in wearing platform shoes, womens knickers and a bra, wandering through the halls of residence when he was pissed.

Oxford uni, those were the days